


Never Forgotten

by PencilofAwesomeness



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blue is really emotional, Drabble, Gen, It hurt the lions too, Lion Switch, Lion's POV, Red is salty, Season 3, Sentient Voltron Lions, The lion-switch hurt me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 15:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11740284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PencilofAwesomeness/pseuds/PencilofAwesomeness
Summary: There is nothing more sacred than the bond between a lion and her paladin. And nothing,nothingcan take that away.





	Never Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> This is rather self-indulgent. The switching of the lions in season 3 hurt me on an emotional level, so this is me making up for that.

_"Let it all fall down to dust._   
_Can’t break the two of us._   
_We are safe in the strength of love._   
_You can stop the aching_   
_'Cause you’re the one I need."_

\- Skillet, "Fire and Fury"

* * *

 

They were lost. He was gone—vanished—and she was lost within herself. The Black Lion was unresponsive to the world, too shaken and too drained to even pick herself off of the floor. Everything was a blur. There was no time, there was no response, and there was _no paladin._

She had panicked. For the first time, Black had truly felt _fear._ There was pain, she remembered. So much. And Darkness… She didn’t know what she did. She…she sent him away, lest he die in her embrace.

Black couldn’t feel anything now except for the hole. Her sisters might have called to her, but she wouldn’t have known. All she knew was darkness, and that last shout of pain, and panic—

“I know you wanted this for me, Shiro.” A presence cut through the emptiness, rousing her.

“But I’m not you. I can’t lead them like you.” It was the Red Paladin. Black thinks, now that she was bringing herself to be aware of her surroundings, that the other paladins had been here too. She didn’t particularly mind the others. They were trusted—they were Voltron—but they weren’t hers.

This one, though. This was the _Red_ Paladin. Voltron’s right hand. Her paladin cared for this one; he was in his memories, far more than the others. Shiro had a deep bond with the Red Paladin, and it went both ways. When her paladin had been in trouble before, too far for her to reach when she was so tired, it had been this one to offer his assistance, and she had let him. He knew the Black Paladin, almost—but not quite—as well as she did.

She could feel it in him. He needed to find his brother—her paladin. It was the same desire back on the barren planet, when her paladin had been wounded and cornered, that was so potent that Black was able to invoke upon it to allow him to pilot her.

The Red Paladin was more upset, this time. He had lost Shiro, too. As the Red Paladin, he was naturally second in command. It had been the same way with Voltron’s previous paladins, and Black assumed it was no different now. Black carefully delved into his essence, feeling his hesitance towards leadership. Her paladin had had similar fears, once, and even still on occasion. Not this potent, perhaps, but still there.

Shiro had had faith in the abilities of this paladin, however. She remembered it well.

It could help. _He_ could help, like he had before. Black didn’t have the ability to find her paladin by herself; he was too far away, his presence too faint. All that Black could be sure of was that he still breathed. Otherwise, Black would have known. At least she _should._ Black had never had a paladin decease before. She didn’t want to experience that.

Tentatively, painfully, Black grasped the Red Paladin and pulled herself back to the present, her consoles and being turning on. There was an exclamation of shock and trepidation from the paladin, and Black silently begged for forgiveness for taking him away from her sister. Voltron needed a head, to be whole, and _she_ needed to find her paladin. The Red Paladin was the best way to accomplish this.

But Keith Kogane was not her paladin. She refused it. She could use the bond he had to Shiro, and she would allow him to fly her, but she would not accept him into her soul. That spot was taken.

Shiro is her paladin. And an interim didn’t change that. The Black Lion would do what she must to keep Voltron whole, but never will she forget him.

—o0o—

Her paladin had been taken away from her.

The Red Lion _understands_ why her sister so rudely took _her_ paladin, but that doesn’t mean she likes it.

Voltron needed five paladins, otherwise, they could not form and become Whole. Red knew this. But somehow, with the disappearance of the Black Paladin, she did not immediately assume that the Black Lion would take **_her_** paladin as a pilot. And without so much as a warning—only an apology when Red felt a bond—albeit a partial one—invoked upon her paladin. Were it not for the reasons behind the transfer, Red would still be seething.

But no. They needed to be Whole. But Red finds herself wishing that it had been any other paladin to be promoted to the head and not hers. It was odd, this ability to wish things differently in hindsight, when things already simply _were_ , but Red had found that ever since she accepted Keith as her paladin, she had been able to feel more and more.

Red rather liked it.

Except for now, when Red knew enough and felt enough in order to be truly _upset._ It was rather infuriating.

 ** _You know what needs to be done._** Her sister’s thoughts reached out to her, still apologetic. Yes. Red _knew._ She still didn’t like it.

But that wasn’t Red’s choice, anymore. That little truth was enough to make the Red Lion growl to the empty air. She would sooner _rather_ throw herself into enemy fire for a time then take the Blue Paladin and lose her own. She didn’t _want_ anyone but Keith. But that was the infuriating thing about free will, with little power to exercise it. Or at least, the ability to exercise without sacrificing Voltron’s stability.

Ever since they first took this form, their eyes opening ever slowly to the world around them, as they grasped to understand these feelings that began to form in their otherwise lifeless—but also full of life—beings, she and the Black Lion had been closer than the rest. It was the echo of their previous paladins’ bond. Alfor and Zarkon were reliant upon one another in a way that Red only barely grasped then. She—and her paladin—were the right hand, and bipedal creatures like their paladins always favored the right hand; thus, so did Black favor Red. It wasn’t until these paladins, so much younger than the first, but filled with so much more potential and life, that Red understood the bond between the Black and the Red paladins. The Red Paladin was the first to convey the wish of the Black Paladin, and the first offer council. It was the bond of brothers in arms, of those who could trust wholeheartedly. It was a trust that _could_ be broken, but it wasn’t likely.

And that was why the Red Lion could not accept just any paladin. Hers was contingent upon her sister’s, otherwise, the Bond would not be nearly as strong.

It was why Red would not accept the Altean princess, even though she _was_ the blood of her first paladin, and oh-so-similar. Perhaps, Red took some sort of vicious pride, more so than she should have, to deny the princess. Alfor had left her—had sent her away. Red could no longer berate her paladin on how much of a fool he had been to abandon her, but she could refuse his blood. And, Red was not keen on accepting a new paladin, even though she knew she would have to, if only for now. To deny one was immensely satisfying in the moment.

But Red could not be selfish forever. She promised her sister.

Though she knew her other sister would not be happy; Red loathed to cause the Blue Lion the suffering that was to come, but she had no choice.

 ** _Sister._** She reached out to the Blue Lion. **_There needs to be a new Red Paladin._**

There was a pause, before a wave of distress filled the ancient bond. **_NO._** Blue’s answer was fierce, protective, but most of all, panicked. If Red had picked up an emotion or two from her current paladin, the Blue Lion experienced ten-fold. The Blue Paladin was emphatic and empathetic, a powerful combination in terms of his quintessence and his bond with Blue. **_No, you can’t!_** Her sister was near hysterics.

Red felt another flash of anger arise in her, more so at the situation than anything else. After a moment, Blue calmed, acceptance morosely entering their connection. It had to be done.

But really, they all hated it.

—o0o—

“Come on, ol’ Blue. It’s me, Lancey-Lance! Open up!”

He was there, trying to go to her like he did a hundred times before, but… But, he was no longer hers. (No, he was _always_ hers, but not right now.) Blue held her particle barrier up. She knew that if she didn’t, he would enter her cockpit and Blue wouldn’t have the strength to tell him ‘no.’

“Okay, enough goofing around, I mean it! We got to go out there and help the others.” She couldn’t. She _couldn’t_ and it wasn’t _fair!_ If the Blue Lion could scream, like the other creatures of the universe, she would.

“Oh, come on! Why are you being mad at me?” He dropped to his knees. She could feel her paladin’s growing distress, and it gnawed on Blue like a netter-worm to the heart.  

“Wait, do you hate me now?” Her paladin, her lovely paladin, crawled closer. “I’m sorry for wanting to fly the Black Lion; it was just a faze.” No! She wasn’t even mad about that! (Okay, so maybe Blue was a little upset. Why did everyone love her eldest sister more than her?) She was hurting him, and it was all her fault. Blue wanted nothing more than to drop the shield and tell him that it was okay, that she loved him, that she wanted no other, but she couldn’t. Not only was their bond too young, too fresh, even though he was brilliant and close to her, but if Blue invoked the full capabilities of their bond, he would never fly the Red Lion.

“Hey Blue, you know what, I gotta’ say: that’s a great color on you.” She wanted to laugh, and cry, and take her up into her paws like she was a _real_ lion. Oh, her precious paladin, why did he have to leave? “Ooh! Are you from outer space? Because your body is out of this world!”

He was close now, so close, but Blue couldn’t have him. The Red Lion needed a new paladin, and it needed to be one that was close to the Black Paladin. Which was currently the Red Paladin, not the Black Paladin.

Blue refused to think of the paladins as any different. This was temporary. It had to be. And if it wasn’t, Voltron would never be at full strength until a new set of paladins, forged from the beginning, took the mantle. (Which, the Blue Lion hated to think of; she never wanted to see her paladins leave. Never. Even if they never _really_ left, having them happy and whole and in her cockpit was so much better than a faint whisper in her fledgling soul.)

Lance, her beautiful paladin, was needed elsewhere at the time. And Blue had to see to it, for the sake of Voltron, for their ability to be Whole, but she _hated_ it. Blue didn’t want to let go. And worse yet, she was causing her paladin strife. She was betraying him, and it made her feel awful. She shouldn’t even have to feel things like that, but she did, and Blue wouldn’t give it up, but it was terrible at times like these.

“Lance, what’s wrong?” The Altean princess was there now.

“I don’t know! Blue’s shutting me out.” She wasn’t! She didn’t want to! She still loved him; he was still her paladin. “Maybe Pidge was right; maybe I _am_ just the goofball. Not only was I not meant to be leader, but I guess… I guess now I’m not even meant to be a paladin.”

No, no, no! He was perfect. He was kind, and brave, and he was _hers_ and she wanted no one else. Not right now. Blue wished—oh how she futilely wished—that she could tell him. That she could fly with him right now.

The Red Lion roared, a sense of urgency. The others needed them. There wasn’t much time. Finally, her paladin got the message, with the help of the princess, and went to her sister. Watching him leave was one of the most painful moments Blue could recall. But he would come back, she hoped. He had to. She hadn’t lost him forever, not yet, not like Blaytz.

The princess was looking to her, hope emanating from her being. Blue loved _her_ paladin, and he was special, but she knew that Voltron needed to be Whole. And Allura, despite not being her true paladin, was eager and bright, and filled with a certain sadness that Blue wished upon no creature. So Blue would take her, and care for her, but she wouldn’t be her Lance.

Blue loved all of her paladins, and she never forgot them. But every loss hurt. She wouldn’t lose another so quickly, not her precious Lance, even if she accepted Allura, she wouldn’t let her become her paladin, because that meant losing Lance.

It was a weaker bond, maybe, and it required more energy from Blue. Calling upon her more advanced weapons without explicit cooperation was more taxing, but it could be done, and Blue would do it.

In extreme circumstances, more than one person could pilot any lion of Voltron, but that didn’t make them their paladin.

Blue lost her first one, and there was no going back. But she didn’t forget him.

It felt like she was losing Lance now. But she wouldn’t forget him. She would wait. As long as it takes, she would hold off, and she would wait, because Blue would reunite with her paladin at all costs.

There may be another piloting her, but the bond of a paladin was unparalleled, and it was never forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> If they aren't switched back by the end of Season 4, Imma protest. (And bring the real Shiro back!) *cries*


End file.
